10 August 2017

Anything happen while I was away?

After writing the last post on August 6, I decided to forgo using the Internet for a few more days. Being exposed to negativity and hatred daily will take a mental and emotional toll on anyone and I've learned that it is important to get away from it to recharge. As such, I had been out of the loop for almost a month, but I wasn't too concerned because really, how much could possibly occur during the time I was away?

Well, quite a lot it seems.

Looking first at the mainstream media, there were a few national and international stories that I'm sure ARC's readers have been aware of for much longer than I have been.
First, the Halifax Proud Boy military scandal continued as an alt-right group at the University of Toronto (Students in Support of Free Speech) held a rally in support of the five men who disrupted the Mi'kmaq ceremony claiming to support the men's right to "free speech." The SSFS claim to be free speech absolutists however the presence of one individual sort of complicated that claim:

If you’re keeping score, here’s the deal: Indigenous activists chose to exercise their freedom of speech and assembly to protest a statue of a man who ordered many acts of violence to be committed against the Mi’kmaq people after founding a city on territory that hadn’t been ceded. They held a protest and a mourning ceremony for Indigenous people who had been hurt or killed. The activists were interrupted by five men connected to a “pro-Western” chauvinist group with a paramilitary branch founded by a far-right, possible anti-Semite. Finally, SSFS, a “non-partisan” student group, decided to hold a rally supporting those five men in their brave quest to interrupt an Indigenous ceremony — and a notorious white supremacist just happened to show up and speak. SSFS then apologized for his presence.

Later the Canadian Chapter of the Proud Boys decided to condemn Paulie as well, which has resulted in some calling them out as triggered SJW cucks:

"Unbeknownst?" They literally gave him a megaphone!

Paulie's presence did allow for an interesting article concerning the rise of fascism on campuses by discussing Paulie's early activities in the Edmund Burke Society and later association with the Heritage Front; I would urge readers to take a look. In the meantime, another alt-right group (perhaps a single individual) has doxed a list of people "he" claims are dangerous antifa based on information the asshat seems to have gleaned from a Facebook site promoting a protest demanding the removal of the Edward Cornwallis statue in Halifax. Of course accuracy doesn't seem to concern the self-proclaimed national socialist.

Paulie was also in the news regarding the death of Barbara Kulaszka. Our readers will know Kulaszka as Doug Christie's co-counsel during the 80s Zündel trial as well as her own defence of Canadian racists and antsemites. She also edited Did Six Million Really Die? - Report of the Evidence in the Canadian 'False News' Trial of Ernst Zündel - 1988 (of course there will be much more on Herr Zündel written soon). Kulaszka's death was a surprise to many of her supporters who organized a memorial at the Richview Library in Etobicoke. Despite protests, the Richview Library allowed the memorial to proceed. Guests included Fromm, Marc Lemire who was the last head of the Heritage Front, necro-nazi and former Heritage Front member Max French, and an assortment of right-wing loons and racists. Her death also resulted in an article focusing on racism in Canada through the decades.

He's also not a fan of yours truly because of my admittedly poor (actually, non-existant id more accurate) coding skills and unwillingness to monetize the blog, though given Johston's late 1990s website appearance, people who live in glass houses maybe shouldn't throw stones.

Johnston was also involved in the absolutely dismal failure that was the One Million Canadian March in Ottawa where he spent much of the preceding evening trying to antagonize anti-fascists on twitter:

Well....

Actually, the police have disputed many of the claims Johsnton is making, including the involvement of weapons. And some witnesses suggest that he initiated the encounter by making some sort of physical contact with a young woman; he was subsequently knocked down and may very well have implicated the first four people he looked at whether they touched him or now. "Canadaland" also called his claims into question. His account of the incident has further been called into question as he has implicated a journalist in the incident:

One man Johnston targeted is Kevin Metcalf, a member of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, who says he was at the Hill protest as an observer, shooting pictures and video of people at what was billed the “Million Canadian March.”

Johnston posted a video Tuesday showing Metcalf’s picture and called him “a coward, domestic terrorist and stalker of women.”

“If you see this man, you have to assume he is armed,” Johnston told his followers. “We have to get this guy behind bars, people. Get him behind bars now.”

Metcalf says he was on Parliament Hill conducting interviews around 11:30 a.m., the time it’s alleged Johnston was assaulted in Confederation Park. He says he’s considering legal action against Johnston over the online video.

Though not Shawn Isgone or Kevin "the Goudreau" who seem to take Johnston's accusation at face value:

Kevin J. Johnston, 45, was charged with a single count of wilful promotion of hatred following what a statement called “a lengthy investigation into numerous incidents reported to police.”....Johnston was charged under a section that outlaws promoting “hatred against any identifiable group,” other than in private conversation. He faces up to two years imprisonment if convicted.

The charge was approved by the Ontario Attorney General’s office, which has the final say on hate crimes prosecutions. He was scheduled to appear in Brampton court on Monday.

Johnston was charged under Sec. 319(2) of the Criminal Code, though he has continued to lie by suggesting that his arrest was due to M103:

And he does have his supporters, including Christie Blanchford:

The danger to individual Canadians who won't toe the party line....Like Eric Brazau (another cranky fellow who has been prosecuted in Ontario multiple times for ranting in the public square about Muslims, most recently for causing a disturbance, though he was originally also charged with advocating genocide, another of those charges that need an AG signoff) and peaceful anti-abortion protesters Linda Gibbons and Mary Wagner, who have been jailed for years in total for merely expressing themselves, Johnston is just the latest poor sap to come to government attention.

It is time for us to take our masculinity back and beat the living hell out of these [Muslims]. Pin them down on the ground, and beat them until they pass out. And when they’re passed out, you beat them further; and when they’re on the ground passed out, kick them, break a kneecap, break an elbow, press their hands backwards turn their wrists sideways, start breaking these guys down.

Ms. Blanchford, you really are the worst.

Of course the biggest news from the perspective of a person covering to studying the racist movement was the death of Ernst Zündel.

And I think that is all I will write about a man whose memory should slip into oblivion.

Of course there was more happening the msm did not cover but which finds a happy spot on the blog here and will be discussed in the coming days including the antics of Kyle McKee as well as the infighting among the Islamophobes ARC has profiled which has really reached a fevered pitch and stems in part to Devon Mannix going full antisemite and Joey DeLuca being called out by the JDL because of it and his association with WCAI Canada. Really, if you thought the previous coverage of the infighting was funny, you will really enjoy seeing what has happened since my last article on the topic.

I will leave that as a bit of a tease since I still have the last season of the series I'm binge watching left. Stay tuned.

Speaking of "explicit links between far right groups": in the first pic of Paulie Fromm, the red ensign-toting guy in the backwards baseball cap behind Paulie and to the left is a member of Pegida Canada (assuming they still exist and haven't died from moribund irrelevancy yet). His first name is Slawo, I don't recall his last name.

Another thing that came up regarding Johnston (though sadly I can't find the link to the show, just the post they had up advertising it) - he had on air the leader of the Trillium Party not too long ago, this being the small fringe party that took on board MPP MacLaren and seems like it's trying to become the province's mail alt-right party. Might be a future angle to look at if there's further co-operation between various Ontario groups and this party, considering the PCPO doesn't look like it wants to put up with their bullshit.

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Race Traitor by Elisa Hategan

At age 16, Elisa Hategan was an alienated runaway who became recruited into Canada's most powerful white supremacist movement, the Heritage Front. She was groomed by top leaders to become a rising star of the extremist far-right movement. An errand girl for notorious Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, she was a witness to the illicit activities of an undercover CSIS agent and co-founder of the Heritage Front. At age 18, she turned against the group and spied on them for several months before testifying in court and going into hiding.